Tag Archives: holidays

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It’s the holiday season, which means it’s a time when we’re gathering with friends and family. That often means being around people you don’t see often, mainly extended family as well as meeting new people at holiday parties.

For me, it means being asked the very annoying question: How’s your diabetes?

Ummm…. it’s fine I guess? Still there.

I know, I know. When someone blogs, tweets and posts about diabetes as much as I do, they’re kind of bringing it upon themselves because people think Rachel = Diabetes. Imagine that when 8 years ago, you got a bad gash that left you with a scar. When you were first injured, it majorly sucked and there was a lot to say about it. Now, you’re stuck with a scar for the rest of your life. It itches and pulls and you have to apply cream to it regularly, but it’s kind of just part of your life. Would you appreciate people asking you whenever they see you, “How’s your scar?” Probably not.

“How’s your diabetes?” Isn’t really a conversation starter either. In my experience, that question bring so many conversation to a grinding halt.

There are so many other more interesting questions to ask that will actually spark a conversation. Here are a few (in no particular order): Continue reading →

You know how there are little things that will always remind you of someone? Like every time I see a greyhound or something with a greyhound on it, I think of my friend Natalie. Whenever I see anchors or nautical-themed things, I think of my cruise-loving mother in law.

When I see certain candies, I think of my dad. My dad was a fan of hard candies. He had four favorite kinds of hard candies: Peppermints, lemon drops, cinnamons and Horehounds (brown candies that have a unique flavor that reminded me of licorice and root beer).

They’re the kind of candies that you find in the paper bag packages at the Cracker Barrel country store. The ones with very distinct and very different flavors. Continue reading →

A few years ago a relative made a comment about how much someone in the family hated it when people were on their phones at holiday gatherings. Unfortunately our world is to the point that we live through a screen, and yes it’s nice to put the phone down and engage.

When I’m Not On My Phone

But here’s my problem, people think I’m on my phone a lot when I’m actually not touching my phone. Because people aren’t observant, many people think my PDM is a phone. I was actually at a business dinner and was bolusing for my meal when an ignorant associate cracked a joke about my funky phone. I don’t share my diabetes with clients yet this guy (who was from a 3rd party vendor) would think that this clunky thing is a phone and would call attention to what I’m doing. I simply assume he’s insecure.

But the fact of the matter is that these devices I carry with me all look like phones. They’re all rectangular and have screens. I glance at my Dexcom and people think I’m glancing at a phone. When I bolus for a meal, people think I’m texting. When one of my devices beeps or buzzes people think I’m getting messages, or ask the annoying, “Who’s beeping?” question.

I keep my PDM at the table with me for meals like Thanksgiving and Christmas when I think I’ll need to take more insulin later and I don’t want to be rude and leave the table.

I’m not on my phone, I’m just doing what I need to do to not die, so just… calm down.

With that said, I’d love to be able to only have my phone at the table with me and do everything that I need to do from it. Now I can check my Dexcom from my phone, someday I’ll be able to bolus from it too.

The timing of everything in my life with Father’s Day is, to say the least, inconvenient. Aside from all sorts of things house/home related, I’m doing things, going places and experiencing moments that I want nothing more than to share with my dad.

My new(ish) staff member is a young man who just moved into his first apartment of his own. His first weekend there, he’d told me of everything he hoped to accomplish before Monday. When Monday came, he shared with me that nothing was completed, he was trying to build a futon. True to the nature of futons, it was giving him trouble. He explained that his dad was going to come over and help him out.

To which I replied, “Dads are great!” There’s nothing wrong with calling in your dad reinforcement, as a 20 (or 30) something.

I’m short a dad. My husband and I depend heavily on my father-in-law when we need help with a “dad” thing. But he’s a little far away. Most of the married couples I know are able to take turns calling in a dad, and sometimes the dads tag-team the problem. I’ve seen it first hand and it’s pretty great.
It makes me a little jealous. My father-in-law is fantastic. But he’s not my dad. I know that I could ask my uncle or my mom’s husband to help out, but it’s different.

My dad solved problems for me, fixed things for me, asked the right questions and gave sound advice.

As we’re going through the process of selling a home that my father never got to see and building a new home that my father will never see, I sometimes think about features that I believe my dad would have liked. When I work on technical projects in the industry that I do, I know that my dad would understand the applications and think they’re cool, without me having to explain why they’re cool. When I travel for work, I find myself in cities he visited for his job and at events like the ones I remember him going to when I was a kid. Even sometimes when I’m sitting with Holmes or Watson on my lap, I think, “Dad would have loved these cats.”

The longer it’s been since we lost my dad, the fewer rough days there are. But some days, like Father’s Day, will always be rough.

Brad and I were discussing New Year’s resolutions yesterday. And I came to the conclusion that if you’re hard-pressed to think of a new New Year’s resolution, you should probably just keep doing what you’re doing because you’re headed in the right direction.

In theory a resolution is a stated goal that you want to complete within the next 365 days. Most New Year’s resolutions are focused on self-improvement, so once you’ve hit that goal keep it up. At least that’s how I am with anything I might resolve to do.

Thus, I have no new resolution this year. Just keep trying to improve myself.

Anyway, as the book of 2014 has been shut and 2015 offers the opportunity for many new words. But before I move on, I’d like to share with you the best of ProbablyRachel.com in 2014: Continue reading →

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